Built Environment news round-up with Lucy Roper, UCEM Information Governance Manager

Posted on: 2018-11-01

If you are a UCEM student and ever had a query relating to the e-Library on our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), then it is likely you will have been put in contact with Lucy Roper.

UCEM’s Information Governance Manager leads the team which is in charge of the e-Library and has developed this crucial part of the VLE for six years. Lucy has an intimate knowledge of this extensive treasure trove of information relating to the Built Environment and is the go-to person for all e-Library queries.

With the advent of GDPR, UCEM tasked Lucy with extending her encyclopaedic knowledge to this new information governance business requirement and this saw her start in her new job title this year, having previously been Digital Resource and Copyright Team Leader.

Each month, Lucy produces an e-bulletin (accessible here) with plenty of useful links to research and news stories relating to the Built Environment, and from next week, she will be sharing a selection of relevant news stories every Thursday from the past seven days.

In her first news round-up, Lucy picks out some of the most interesting stories from the past month as a taster of this new regular feature…

Budget 2018: impact on construction at a glance

Even if you wanted to avoid news of this week’s Budget, you would have had to have pulled off a feat worthy of Houdini not to have heard anything about the Chancellor’s Autumn announcement.

News of the Budget has been omnipresent in the UK this week with analysts working feverishly to understand the implications for the nation’s industries and people alike.

The Budget’s impact on the construction industry is an important consideration for UCEM and many of its students, alumni and partners. Fortunately, construction news website, Building has done the hard work, digesting the swathes of information produced in the Budget document to produce a short article on seven changes brought about by the Budget which will impact upon the industry. Read the story here.

RIBA Stirling Prize 2018

Established in 1996, the RIBA Stirling Prize is always a hot topic of debate within the Built Environment.

This year’s winner was announced earlier this month and if you are interested in learning more about the winner, nominees and jury then RIBA has you covered. Read all about it here.

Eat vegan, drink vegan, build vegan?

The rise of veganism shows no sign of slowing down but whilst restaurants, breweries and supermarkets are working to meet growing demand for vegan products, would this have ever crossed your mind in relation to building materials?

Probably not, but this type of thinking led to UK entrepreneur, Ehab Syed, winning an international award for innovation for developing mushroom-based insulation and other biological materials for the construction industry.

Global Construction Review takes up the story here.

For more on these stories and plenty more, click here to access the latest edition of Lucy’s e-bulletin.